FMIC pushes Asia expansion

MANILA, Philippines - First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC), the investment banking arm of the Metrobank Group, is teaming up with Japanese financial institution Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC) for future business collaborations in debt capital markets and debt-related transactions in Asia.

In a statement yesterday, FMIC said it signed a memorandum of intent (MOI) with SMBC together with the latter’s affiliates SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. and SMBC Nikko Securities (Hong Kong) Ltd.

“The signing of this cooperation agreement between First Metro and the SMBC Group comes at the right time. With its robust economy and fast-moving market, the Philippines is ready to participate and compete in the international stage,” said Noburu Kato, SMBC director, general manager and head of investment banking department in Asia.

He said the MOI would serve as a foundation of the business cooperation between FMIC and the SMBC Group in exploring opportunities in the Asian region.

“This agreement will allow businesses and investors from either the Philippines or Japan to take part in the debt issuances of clients of FMIC and the SMBC Group. This MOI will definitely be a basis of the many business opportunities in the coming years,” Kato said. FMIC said the key areas of collaboration between the two parties would focus primarily on debt capital markets and debt-related transactions.

 “We are happy to partner with the SMBC Group, a respectable and prominent name in banking, finance, investment banking and related industries. This is just the beginning. More work has to be done to fully harness this MOI, so that both our financial institutions, and on a macro basis our countries, will benefit from it,” said FMIC president Roberto Juanchito Dispo.

FMIC and its subsidiaries offer a wide range of services, from debt and equity underwriting to loan syndication, project finance, financial advisory, investment advisory, government securities and corporate debt trading, equity brokering, online trading, asset management, and research.

 Its products and services include indicative investment rates from the company’s treasury financial instruments, First Metro Asset Management Inc.  (FAMI) Save and Learn Mutual Funds, First Metro Securities online stock trading facility, and the First Metro Philippine Equity Exchange-Traded Fund (First Metro ETF), the country’s first ever exchange-traded fund.